End of Basketball

Saturday was the last game for our Tigers in the summer basketball season. I reminded Colin to bring the camera along so he could take some pictures. Here are a few from warm-ups. Thank goodness we only play on a 6-ft basket!

As with every week, we had a great time playing our game. It didn't matter who won or lost. I'm not sure we even kept score, come to think of it. What mattered was that all the kids learned more about basic basketball skills, teamwork, cooperation, and positive attitudes during the course of the 8-week season. I think they all did fantastically! Cherie and I certainly had a lot of fun coaching them. It was especially heartwarming to me to see all the kids treat Jonathan, our boy with Downs Syndrome, as an equal. Just one of the Tigers! That was the best. :) So, thank you to Nathan, Gianna, Logan, Adam, Tanner, Ethan, Katie, Gavin, and Jonathan for making this so much fun.

Of course, the end-of-season party with trophies and big cookie sandwiches wasn't too bad, either!

Dance Photos

Katie is still loving dance! Since Natalie and I have to sit in the waiting area and peer through the window to watch, it is hard to take pictures! These are from my phone earlier this week. Katie is at the far right during their tap session.

Katie loves being the line leader! Above they are getting ready to do some tippy-toe walking. :)

We're so glad she enjoys her new activity. Hopefully some day I will get better pictures.

Back to School Time: Addendum

Well, I read back through what's new with the girls at daycare and realized I forgot something. Our beloved Miss Chelsey worked her last day there this past Friday. She is a college student and will be doing her student teaching at a nearby elementary school this semester. We know Miss Chelsey will do fantastically, but we sure will miss her!

Miss Chelsey started working there as an afternoon assistant in summer 2006, right after her graduation from high school. This was a crucial time for us -- Katie was in the 1-year-old room at the time, and we were having some difficulties with one of her teachers. You may remember that we were having so much distress that we were looking at other centers to take her to. And then, our prayers for a resolution were answered when we came in one Monday and found a new teacher, Ms. Myrtha, had taken the difficult teacher's place, and a new assistant was starting that afternoon. Ms. Myrtha and Miss Chelsey formed a quick bond and really turned around that 1-year-old room. They are kind, fair, and able to give out the right amount of love without spoiling anyone or showing favoritism. Katie took to them immediately, and to this day she always loves to say hi to them whenever she gets a chance.

Miss Chelsey got shifted from classroom to classroom over the 3 years she's worked there, but she has always loved Katie and Natalie. We've also used her as a babysitter, and I made sure I have her number so we can call her this semester to babysit if need be. I didn't mean to, but I made her cry on her last day. We just love her to death! Miss Chelsey is focusing on early childhood education and the center owners are hopeful that she will consider coming back to be a full-time preschool teacher after her graduation. She has really been a blessing to our family, and we hope that she's able to come back and share her gifts with more families like ours in the future!

Back to School Time: Changes for the Girls

And finally, in my Back to School Time series, the girls have a few changes over at daycare.

Katie is now in the VPK program to promote school readiness. This is a free program through the state, but we still have to pay a fee for before/after care since she spends all day at the center. An added benefit for Katie is that she has the same teacher and many of the same friends in her class. Essentially, there's not much of a change between what she was already doing in pre-school and what she'll be doing in VPK. They do pick up a few more educational activities to make sure the kids are ready for school, but there is still plenty of playtime and recess, so I doubt she'll notice a difference. Can you believe she'll go to kindergarten next year?!?!!

Natalie got moved up to the 2-year-old room at the center. She still has almost 2 months until her birthday, but they asked if they could move her early, and we said yes! Natalie has several friends that turned 2 in July, and since there was still one more slot in the 2-yr-old room available, they felt she was a natural fit for it. We were so excited that she gets to stay with her friends, make some new friends, and experience new challenges as she interacts with slightly older kids. We're very proud of our big little girl!

So, both girls are taking on new challenges, and we're looking forward to seeing how it goes. The major benefit that Colin and I are seeing, starting today, is that overall weekly tuition is reduced by about $40 since the girls each made a change that resulted in a cost decrease. Think about it... $40/wk x how many weeks...? Yeah. That's a big plus. :)

Back to School Time: Church Orchestra

August brings with it the start-up of rehearsals for church orchestra. I sure missed my band geek friends over the summer! We've had 2 rehearsals and are already starting to work on our Christmas music. Some of it is quite challenging, so we'll definitely need the time to put this all together, not only ourselves, but also with choir and handbells. Since we get together on Thursday evenings, and Colin is still at football when I have to leave, one of his parents come over to stay with the girls until he's back. It is working out OK so far.

Another side gig was that I played in a clarinet trio for the back-to-school talent show and ice cream social our church had last night. Our intrepid trio was actually there, along with piano, to accompany Jeff as he sang "When I'm 64". It was a blast! Jeff was so serious as the tenor soloist when we did our big Palm Sunday program, but he can really ham it up on stage when he gets the chance. We were one of about 25 acts for the talent show. I didn't stay until the end, but from the ones I did see, I can tell you we have a lot of fantastic performers in our congregation!

Back to School Time: Dora Live!

Today I took the girls to see Dora the Explorer Live! Colin was skeptical that I'd be able to get Natalie to sit still for that long, but I figured it was worth a shot. Here we are by the big fountain outside before going in to find our seats.



The story was in the same format as her TV shows, where we were following the map on our quest for the City of Lost Toys. My favorite part was when we saw Swiper flying with a jet pack!

The girls really enjoyed themselves. We sat in the first row of the balcony, so the girls could either sit or stand and not interfere with anyone else's viewing of the show. Natalie was glued to it and barely said a word the entire time, only starting to get a bit restless with about 5 minutes left. Katie was shouting out the answers and singing along, getting the full audience participation experience. Here are some photos I took during intermission before the usher scolded me for using my camera.

It was really fun to be there as the girls saw their favorite characters come to life! The music is catchy, the story line was fairly interesting, and it always amazes me how people can dance in those giant costumes. :)

We had lunch out on the way home, and then the girls crashed for a good long nap. Colin was glad for the time by himself so he could finally fix the computer. I was very glad for that, too!

7 Quick Takes on Why I'm So Far Behind

I know, I know... I'm WAY behind!!!

1. One of our 4 computers at home is giving us grief. This is, of course, the computer with all our photos on it. So I feel like I can't catch up until I have access to my photos again and I can finish off our vacation posts.
2. I have this problem where I need to keep things in chronological order. Seriously. I have a mental block against scrapbooking because that means my photos would not necessarily be in chronological order. So the thought of writing today, then going back and catching up with Jacksonville Zoo and Colin's birthday up until present time, gives me the willies. But I'm going to do it, so check back for when I fill in this gap!
3. Colin started football practice this week. He gets home when the girls are on their way to bed, so once they're asleep, he hasn't had the time or energy to work on the computer. I expect this to continue through the weekend as they're having Saturday practice as well.
4. I started church orchestra last week. Plus, I'm playing with a group for our church talent show next Wednesday, so I've had extra time spent with that.
5. Katie started dance class this week. She's in a class of 3 and 4 year old girls that's half tap and half ballet. All the scramble to get her registered, buy her supplies, and actually get her to that first class exhausted me!
6. Natalie has been sick. She looked a little ragged Wednesday night but I chalked that up to being tired. She woke up yesterday feeling and sounding positively awful. I took her to the doctor first thing and she has croup. Poor sweetheart. I stayed home with her yesterday and Colin is home with her today as she's still not feeling 100%. She is improving, but another day of rest at home should help her out.
7. Work has seriously stressed me out over the past 2 weeks or so. We're trying to close out one of our projects and had some paperwork issues while trying to meet tight deadlines. I think things are under control, so keep your fingers crossed...

Back to School Time: Dance

Katie started dance class yesterday!

For a while now, she has been telling anyone who will listen that after basketball is over, she would like to be a ballerina. I did the first step in helping her accomplish that goal a while ago, which was asking some people I know if they could recommend a dance studio. I got a glowing recommendation for a studio from my fellow clarinet in church orchestra, Marianne, and since we know their family fairly well and her teen daughter has been dancing at this place since she was Katie's age, I was satisfied with that.

And then I sort of forgot about it and didn't think to look into upcoming schedules...

And then I saw Marianne and she shamed me (jokingly, of course) for not being on the ball because they were in the middle of registration! Argh! I felt so far behind!!!

I contacted the studio, took a tour, and was happy to register Katie on Monday and then scramble around like a maniac to buy the requisite supplies as her first class was on Tuesday!

She loved it. LOVED IT. For 45 minutes, she was an attentive participant in the small class of dancers. They did tap for the first half and ballet for the second. In future weeks, they'll also be trying out jazz and tumbling. While in class, the door is closed, so Natalie and I stayed in the lobby area and watched through the giant window along with the other parents and siblings. I will have to find a way to get a good picture of the action!

I'll be picking the girls up early on Tuesdays to attend Katie's class. I'd like to keep Natalie with us if she continues cooperating and avoid getting a babysitter for such a short time period. After class, this gets us home and to supper a little late, but for one day a week, I think it's OK to get to bed a bit later.

Katie had such a great time. Knowing how she was clingy when she first tried soccer and basketball, it was wonderful to see her walk into this class, where she knew no one, with confidence, and do such a great job of interacting with everyone the entire time. I was so proud!!! I hope she continues to enjoy it because everyone tells me how cute the recitals are at this age, so I'm already getting excited for that, and it's not even until June! :)

Back to School Time: Football

Well, you know that the girls are too young to be starting school, but the dawn of the next school year has brought some changes to our household. I'll be going over them in the next few posts.

After 2 years off to finish his Master's degree, Colin has returned to coaching high school football at his alma mater. It's obvious he's missed it, and he was terribly excited to get back to it starting today. The catch is that after being away for 2 seasons, they have a new defensive line coach for varsity, so he'll be coaching on JV for the time being. That's OK, he's still excited, it's just a little different schedule to get used to in terms of practice time and game days.

The bigger challenge is for us girls. Since football practice is in the evening, this means that the next few months will be of us girls eating supper alone, doing bathtime, and hoping that Colin gets here before they go to bed so he can say good night to them. We'll miss having him around, but we'll hang in there. Katie is already very much looking forward to the first game of the season, so we'll have to make sure we're there for that.

GO TIGERS!!!!!

Colin's Birthday

Happy Birthday Colin!!! With a mid-week birthday and a football coaching kick-off meeting this evening, we decided to celebrate early. Colin's parents came over on Sunday evening to grill steaks and have dessert and gifts. Katie was my big helper in the kitchen, getting all the potato wedges properly seasoned before we baked them:



After dinner, Colin opened his gifts. I love the anticipation in the next photo... Nearly a week ago, Katie came up with an idea of what to buy Colin for his birthday. I was so proud when she kept it a secret even after we bought it! She's never kept a secret that long before!

Yes, a "black fancy shirt for meetings"! It was all Katie's idea. The staff at Men's Wearhouse were extremely helpful in selecting the black shirt, plus a gray one, plus matching ties (yes, this was the most expensive birthday Colin has ever had!). Katie was thrilled to go to the "Fancy Man's Clothes Store" to pick it out. I was just thankful Natalie didn't lift any cufflinks as they were all in an open display case near the cash register. :) Colin also received some cards with money and Home Depot gift cards which he plans to apply toward a new lawnmower.

But back to the party... Our dessert was ice cream and Chocolate Ganache Supreme cake... Delicious!

As you can see, the party was a big hit. It was planned sort of last-minute (shame on me for almost forgetting that Colin's birthday would be right after our vacation!), but everything went well. Happy Birthday, Dear Husband!!!